By Eric George Tauber
CARLSBAD, California — Little Shop of Horrors first appeared in 1960 as a campy horror movie beside such titles as The Blob, Plan 9 from Outer Space and I Was a Teenage Vampire. Relegated to dusty cans and the Late Late Show, it was given new life as a rockin’ doo-wop Off-Broadway musical in 1982 and a Frank Oz movie in 1986. A fun crowd-pleaser with singable, toe-tapping songs and a sweet romance, Little Shop has become a staple of high school drama clubs. Director AJ Knox of New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad wanted to give it a twist while retaining the camp, horror, romance and “schlocky charm” that make it so special.
A trio of hammy doo-wop singers welcome us to Mushnik’s Skid Row Flower Shop. It’s an unimpressive place and business is in a real slump. Melissa Fernandes is Mrs. Mushnik, a quintessential Jewish mother loudly kvetching about the hard times between nips from the bottles and flasks she keeps hidden throughout the shop. Mushnik was written as a male character. But now that I’ve seen Melissa Fernandes, I’m sold.
Cashae Monya is Audrey, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She’s been given a shiner by her abusive boyfriend. It’s an all too common story, yet there’s something so sweet and innocent about her that makes her adorable. Audrey’s boyfriend is a controlling, abusive, sadistic bad boy who rides a motorcycle and enjoys inflicting pain on others. Naturally, he’s a dentist. Philip David Black is fun to watch with crazy eyes and expressive face as Orin Scrivello DDS and a host of other characters.
Sittichai Chaiyahat is our nebbishy shlemazel of a hero, Seymour. An orphan of Skid Row, he’s been a nobody his whole life. The roof over his head is the counter of the flower shop where he works. But his luck seems to change when he discovers a “strange and interesting” plant that he dubs “Audrey 2.”
Of course Audrey and Seymour are madly in love, but each thinks they don’t deserve the other. Seymour thinks Audrey is too beautiful for him and Audrey thinks she doesn’t deserve a guy as nice as Seymour. With the emotional power of a Puccini aria, Audrey fantasizes about getting away from the crime and grime of Skid Row and living in a tract house in the burbs “Somewhere That’s Green.”
Their luck seems to change for the better as Audrey 2 brings them fame and fortune. But it’s a Faustian bargain as this god demands human sacrifice. Normally a puppet voiced by a man, this flower opens to reveal a powerhouse, Eboni Muse. Her costume by Amanda Quivey is dazzling and she carries herself with swagger and sass like the Wicked Witch in The Wiz.
Raise a glass to New Village Arts. Everyone from the cast, design team, music and choreography brought their A games into one cohesive work of art. Little Shop of Horrors plays through August 4 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. You’ll walk out singing, dancing and looking twice at any suspicious house plants.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com